Grail
by mortalhelix
Summary: What happened after? the epilogue of Grace and Gravity. [nonbiased critiques and reviews welcomed][Completed][3rd]


**Grail**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or anything to do with Naruto other than this story which all ideas and plot twists have been of my own creation (unless specified, where as certain ideas will have credit given due)

**A/N:** It's probably best to read Grace and Gravity before reading this, as this is merely the final sequel and the epilogue of those two stories. Also, I decided to end this on a more… comical note… hehehehe….

----

In Infinite **Grace** we find ourselves soaring above the others to an unknown destination. But in the end, we must all bow to the **Gravity** in which the flow of life takes us. Once we have come back down to earth and our physical essence finally shatters, all that is left behind is the **Grail** of our memories, the immortality that the people who love us remember us as.

-----

"Hurry up, Hurry up, Hurry up!" Wined a particularly familiar voice attached to a bouncing blond teen with vibrant blue eyes. Naruto was hopping from leg to leg, anxious and excited to get going back to the future, their present.

One particularly annoyed strawberry blond twitched as her darker companion chuckled. These two were still packing their bags, almost intentionally going slow to annoy their blond brother. Although, the constant whining was starting to get on Sakura's nerves.

"Alright, we're done; now take us back, Dobe." Muttered the last-…not so last Uchiha. The moment the first word had left his lips, Naruto had already seized their arms in his, and proceeded to start the one handed seals that would take them back.

"Ack, wait, my ribbon, Ino will ki-ACK!"

Too late.

Red demonic chakra had already engulfed them in a spherical swirl, and they were gone.

-----

Some 8 months later, another spiky haired blond with blue eyes stood, pacing outside a hospital doors waiting. It was eerily silent, no one else was here with them, and they were all preparing something very important. According to the time, he had exactly an hour to get where he needed to be, with one of the people beyond the closed hospital door.

One hour, no… 45 minutes now, until destruction. Ugh! What the hell was taking so long! The Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure no sato was almost tearing out his gold locks when a straw blond with abnormally large breasts came out holding a child, a crying child with tuffs of the same gold blond on his tiny head. The man stopped breathing for a moment, frozen.

"Arashi? I have no idea what's going on, how you knew Himeno-san would have bled to death or how your son was ready to come out today instead of 2 weeks from now…" Tsunade was holding the baby protectively in her arms, glaring at the Yondaime who merely smiled at her.

"Tsunade…" he spoke softly. "When Himeno wakes up, ask her to tell you what's going on, I've already told her… but I need to take my son, Naruto and go now. This village is depending on me." Tsunade however, did not relinquish her hold, it took the best puppy eyes Arashi could come up with did she hand over the baby.

"You better come back alive."

"Don't worry, I trust him." And in a flash, he was gone.

"Trust who, gaki?" grumbled the legendary ninja before she retreated back into the birth room to tend to the exhausted and sleeping Himeno.

29 minutes left.

Arashi arrived in his trademark yellow flash mere seconds from when he had left. Only, he was drained of nearly half his chakra stores, but it was worth it, to have come this far. The sun was starting to set, and soon the full moon would be out. Arashi breathed in and out several times, clutching his son to his breast and counting to 10 before moving into the clearing of a steep sided cliff. There, half of the highest ranking ninja in Konoha were gathered.

"Yondaime-sama!" voices were raised as he stepped into the clearing. So far, only he and his team knew why they were hearing, not even Jiraiya knew why. The ninja's were calling out their confusion on being called here, even the Sannin looked pissed.

"Alright brat, why are we here?" asked the gruff and irritated voice of the legendary super pervert, Jiraiya. Arashi took a deep calm breath, handing over his son to Rin who took Baby Naruto into her arms protectively, and Kakashi and Obito (now the copy cat duo) took up point beside her for protection.

"We have received information, that a demon will attempt to come to the mainland at this point, we're to prevent this from happening." There was silence, then uproar. Araishi held out his hand in a pausing gesture and continued.

"It will be the greatest demon, the biju, Kyuubi." This time, there was no outrage, just a shocked and horrified silence.

"At the time I received this information, I was able to come up with a sealing process. I will be sealing the demon inside my son, Naruto. You are all here to help, and …. And if in the even the sealing goes array, to stall the demon as long as possible for back up." Yondaime explained.

7 minutes, there was a red glow in the distance, and already they could feel the massive chakra surges happening beyond the ocean's horizon.

"yesterday, I took the liberty of drawing out the seal already, all I need, is for you to fan out and give me your chakra or channel it into the ink seals below." Hence why he had chosen much of the old and more advanced shinobi and kunoichi, they all had knowledge of how seals worked in some level.

"It would be an honour, Hokage-sama!" one yelled, followed by the others.

2 minutes left, they could see the body of the demon running on all fours, the 9 tails fanned out as it ran across the water. The great and oppressing chakra terrified most ninja's where they stood, but Yondaime held firm, and those that looked to him, found their courage in his rigid posture and defiant aura.

"Start channelling!" the blond roared, the air became thick and palpable with energy almost instantaneous. Several people drew chakra directly into the ground, lighting up whites archaic runes that spread all over the cliff, onto trees and leafs, boulders and pedals, spanning almost a mile. Others channelled their Chakra directly to Yondaime as he gathered it and swirled the energy around him.

He motioned to Rin to hand over his son, She did so reluctantly, worrying about the newborns health. This didn't bode well for a child fresh from the whomb.

12 seconds left.

Yondaime was almost hyperventilating in trying to keep his cool, he motioned to Kakashi and Obito to begin the long string of seals and take their place beside him in two individual clear circles amongst the glowing white runes. Timing was everything.

Kyuubi was upon them, leaning on his haunches as if to jump onto the land, seemingly to deem them not a threat to his person (or he didn't even see them, tiny insect like humans are). He snarled downward as he only just they became aware of the heavy and powerful chakra surge beneath him. He hesitated in horror.

"NOW!" Kakashi and Obito cried in unison as Yondaime unleashed the chakra around him into the ink seals as the Copy cat duo finished the hand seals in their special positions beside him.

There came a roar, 9 tails tried swiping at the infuriating humans, only to find he couldn't. The stupid demonic runes they had somehow gotten hold of, were now engraved into his body, holding him hostage. He raged trashing as he felt a terrible ripping take place as the white runes converged at his forehead and burst, shattering his physical body.

The few runs still on the ground that had remained there, mostly around Yondaime, suddenly came back to life as a great angry arrow of sickly red light fired down into the blond Hokage, and more specifically, into the special spiralling rune tattooed onto Baby Naruto's stomach that had been placed there by Rin.

For awhile, there was just nothing. The ink runes had gone; the trees themselves seemed tired and lacking energy. But the wind still blew, stirring the occasional fallen leaf. Most konoha shinobi gathered there were exhausted, collapsing where they stood. Rin who still had plenty of energy, began running between them, administrating soldier pills to the dangerously exhausted.

Kakashi and Obito were unconscious, but not in danger. Jiraiya, who had been told by Rin to stay out of it, realized why when Arashi suddenly fell forward, baby Naruto still in his arms. He caught his dumb student in his arms, grumbling about a waste of research times.

Baby Naruto was screaming and crying, a noise that irritated the old man. But as irritated as he was, he couldn't help but feel sorry, sorry and proud. He rearranged Arashi so that Jiraiya was carrying him bridal style, Baby Naruto cushioned in-between them. Jiraiya looked down at the baby, and felt a grandfatherly surge of protectiveness. He noticed that the boy's navel where the angry black spiral was was burned. He frowned.

"Rin!" he called, only to find her already tending to Naruto. The sannin blinked.

"How do medics do that?"

"Not telling, it's a seeeeecret." She grinned as her hands glowed very softly green. "I can only alleviate the pain for him, he's still just a baby, and to do a full healing will injure him more. You need to get him to Tsunade-sama immediately." Rin said softly, smoothing out the wild tuff of hair from Naruto's head.

"See you at the hospital. You're in charge here, Rin."

"Hai!"

With a puff of smoke, he was gone along with the unconscious Hokage and baby Naruto. But there was one thing that absolutely irked Jiraiya, and that was… how did Arashi know just what to do, and when kyuubi would come?

-----

They landed in a desert, of all the places to land; it had to be a desert. Sakura scolded.

"Can't you aim better!"

"Aim? There is no aiming, everything is random!" Naruto cried. At least it was sunset; else they wouldn't be able to tell what direction they were in.

"Stop arguing and let's go home already!" snapped an annoyed Sasuke, sharingan blazing.

"haiiii!" Naruto took two steps from their landing position only to stop cold.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked slightly worriedly, Sasuke turned back to eye his friend, noting the tan skin was now ashen grey.

"Oi.. dobe…" Sasuke rushed forward and caught the blond as he fell. Naruto was panting, sweating and clammy to the touch.

Then, the screaming started.

"Hey! Oi! DOBE! WHAT THE HELL!" he called over the blonds loud and pained screams. Sakura was already running a diagnostic jutsu, Sasuke had his sharingan out scanning for possible attackers when Sakura gasped.

"What?"

"His seal!"

That was the last thing Naruto heard before his ears failed him and he blacked out. Too bad, this time unconsciousness didn't stop the pain.

-----

-_This must be heaven…-_

He was warm, surrounded by something soft. There was a patch of heat over his limbs and torso while a fresh cool breeze touched his face. It was likely morning, the birds were still chirping. There was a soft rustling noise, just outside the window. Probably a tree. He was laying on something incredibly soft as well, curving to the lines of his body.

­_-This feels nice.-_

He must have been on a high floor, because he could hear soft humming below him. A tune? Someone was singing… they had a good voice. It was… pleasant.

_-I don't want to leave this heaven…-_ he thought tiredly, as his consciousness slipped away again.

-----

Someone was shaking him; he groaned and turned over only to hear a chuckle. Someone poked him in the side, he squirmed and that chuckled turned into a soft melodies laugh.

"Wakey wakey, Naru-chan." Came a soft female voice into his ears.

"don't wanna.." came the groggy voice as he snuggled deeper into the soft warmth he was cocooned in.

"oooh? Well tou-san says he won't give you any decent missions if you're late."

_-tou-san? I though he was…..-_

The boy opened his eyes the moment the voice sat down on the end of his bed. He looked into sapphire eyes that matched his. The woman reached a hand out and gently caressed his locks of hair and tugged them neatly behind his ear.

"Okaa-san…" he whispered before the comforter lying over him went flying and he launched himself to her midsection and hugging her.

"okaa-san!" he cried, tears streaming down his face as a feeling so strange and foreign enveloped him. A form of happiness he never experienced. His mom wrapped her arms around him and chuckled.

"Ne…. I love you, Naru-chan…. welcome back."

"I love you too, Kaa-san." Naruto choked out thickly. A moment or two passed before Himeno started chuckling again.

"As lovely as this is, you have to go meet your team…. Oh, and Naru-chan…."

"hai?"

"You're Naked."

"EEEHHHHHH!" Naruto grabbed the comforter and bolted for it, only, he didn't know where to run, and thus stood stupidly half naked shielded by only a blanket as his mother laughed herself silly where she sat, holding her sides to prevent them from bursting.

"Your clothing is in the closet dear, I already took out your dirty ones when Kakashi and Iruka brought you back unconscious. It's been 4 days since Sakura-san and Sasuke-san said you'd fallen unconscious. They met up with your senseis in the desert and headed off to meet Shikamaru-san's team. They all carried you back." She got up and stretched before picking up an empty laundry basket he only just then noticed.

"Since it's late, and you're most likely to get a few d-rank missions, can you pick up Fubuki-chan and Karai-chan from the academy at 3? I'd reeeaaaally appreciate it." She smiled, no… smirked at him, he looked confused and she merely winked. He walked over and gave him a brief hug followed up by a kiss on the cheek before leaving his bedroom.

"Hurry up! Their probably still waiting for you!"

"haaai!" Naruto did indeed hurry up, he was about to leave his room via the traditional method (the window) when his mother stopped him on her way down the hall to another room.

"Oh, be careful of the fan girls, sweaty."

"Uh... okay, thanks kaa-san!" Naruto blinked as she laughed away.

Fan girls? Since when did he have fan girls? Opting not to find out, he disappeared in a puff of smoke instead of running to the tower. Fan girls were not to be trifled with.

-----

"Ohayo minniaaa! Sorry I'm-"

SMACK

"You're LATE!" Naruto blinked, rubbing his head tenderly. Sakura tried to look mad, but he could see the relief in her eyes, the same with Sasuke. They both sighed and shook their heads.

"So… um.. what's up?"

"Nothing, once again we waited here for you and everyone else got a mission and there are none left for us." Kakashi suddenly spoke up. Naruto looked over to him, but instead, found his eyes resting on three figures, one with blond hair like his in Hokage robes, another with faded brown hair and a beard in the same robes as the first, and another, Jounin level ninja with an eye patch and black spiky hair.

They were playing cards around a circular table with Kakashi, but upon closer inspection, the cards were the Icha Icha paradise special edition set. Naruto deadpanned them.

"You know…. If kaa-san caught you…."

"ACK!" they all jumped, heads swivelled to look at him, and Naruto smirked smugly as his father's flustered appearance.

"Ah.. we were just ah.. um…."

"Inspecting them for… Dubious content, Naruto-kun." Answered the old man; Naruto's eyes softened upon seeing the 3rd once again.

"Ya right, oyaji…. Teh… Maaaaah, I'm board, I think I'll go tell her-"

"I'll never ever give you a mission if you do!"

"There are probably so many ninja in the village now since I went back in time and changed everything, which by the way I'll have you know that, my memories are still clear as light that not giving me a mission wouldn't make much difference…" Naruto smirked.

"Damn.. I hate it when he's right."

"Kakashi, got any brunettes in red lace?" asked Obito.

"Go fish."

"Damnit!"

Team 7 blinked. Naruto glanced at Sakura to see her... amused? Well… he supposed the cards weren't that bad… after all… the figures were still... partially clothed. Naruto turned to his team mates, aside from them and the ones playing cards; they were the only people in the room now.

"What do you want to do then?" he asked. Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Well, we got an incredible amount of money that Tsunade beat Jiraiya up to borrow, why not go shopping for awhile?"

"Why'd she give you his money?"

"Us, Naruto." Sasuke spoke up. "They made a whole new rank for what you did, deeming it a mission of the greatest value, so of course only Jiraiya's bank account was large enough to supply us for our work done…. We also got special ranks, **gaminin** and honourable golden kunai. You slept through the ceremony." Naruto gaped. Sakura snorted.

"No worries, now let's go shopping!"

"haiii!"

"hn…"

-----

Naruto should have figured, when Sakura meant 'shopping' she really meant 'I buy stuff, you carry the bags.' He sighed, Sasuke mimicked him, and Sakura squealed and went off into another store with her team-mates lingering behind at a slow leisurely pace. Naruto sighed again.

Everyone was giving, what he considered, to be weird looks. There were tones of ninja's around, shopping, gossiping, all around hanging out. When he walked past however, they stopped talking and _stared_ at him, and if that weren't strange (he was very well used to being stared at) they had looks of… awe on their faces, not hatred or contempt. Some people even waved and called him 'Naruto-sama' hell, even a few Hyuuga branch members _bowed_ to him!

"Sasuke… is it just me, or am I in bizarre-world?" Sasuke snorted.

"No, at the ceremony, which by the way, was 2 days ago, shortly after we arrived and you mom whisked you off to your house, Godaime-sama announced everything, from our reasons for leaving, to our ventures back in time to the eventual saving of hundreds of lives. Those that used to hate you now don't know what to think, those who were saved, or have vague memories of dying, are singing praise of you for giving them a second chance." Sasuke eyed him.

"You know, that's the most I think I've ever heard you say in one sitting before." Naruto smirked, but it fell shortly after and he stared upwards into the clear blue sky, thinking. The Uchiha sighed.

"Sasuke… I grew up in hatred, that kind of feeling from the villagers…. Hatred like that doesn't fade away, nor can it be replaced with gratitude by a single deed. It will be a long time before I have this village's thanks…"

"Dobe" Sasuke growled angrily. "You saved us from Shukaku, you saved _me_ you saved this village from kyuubi, everyday…. Went back in time. How can konoha _not_ respect you for it?"

"ah, there's the rub." Sasuke blinked, and Naruto opened one eye, grinning mysteriously.

"It is possible to respect someone, while still hating their guts, Sasuke. You and me when we were 12, point and case." Naruto snorted at Sasuke's disbelieving look.

"I don't think I'll ever get past this self-destructing personality of yours." Retorted the Uchiha, who actually couldn't find anything else to say. Naruto opened his mouth but was spared (or maybe not) by Sakura who came out of the store they were waiting outside of with 2 more bags. Both boys twitched.

"ne, Sakura-chan, what time is it?" Naruto suddenly asked, the pink haired girl paused for a second before looking at her watch.

"around 3, why?"

"Gotta pick up some kids, ja!" In an instant all the bags Naruto was holding ending up in Sasuke's arms as the blond bolted towards the academy, remembering his mother's words from ealier.

"NAUROT! OI! GET BACK HERE! DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE WITH HER!" came the very much peeved shout of a certain doomed Uchiha.

-----

Naruto stood outside the courtyard gates into the academy where most parents were currently waiting. He was uncomfortable at the stares, and the fact they actually parted for him. He remembered, most academy students had shinobi parents, and by the looks of things, there were tones of gratified people.

"Eheh… hello…."

"Kazama Naruto… right?" Naruto blinked at being addressed with the foreign name, it took a second before he registered that it was in-fact his name, just hardly used. Actually... it had a nice ring to it.

"Hai." He answered lamely, blinking rather owlishly as the man beamed,

"Thank you, thank you thank you thank you!" his hand was being roughly shaken.

"Ah.. you're welcome."

"I'm sorry for ever hating you, you brought back my wife and kids… thank you!" Naruto rubbed the back of his head and smiled goofily. Other parents were starting to voice their opinions.

"ehehe… really it was nothing." Naruto looked at them, and smiled softly.

"This village and the people inside of it are my precious people, I don't like seeing them sad, so I did something about it, and it was nothing, really! Honest!" He waved them off with a slight sweat-drop. Thank god the academy bell rung at that point, and the courtyard was flooded with children seeking their parents.

At this point many people starting taking their kids and bowing to Naruto before leaving, Naruto sighed, he was looking around for a Fubuki and Karai type kids before there was a shout:

"ANIKI!"

Followed by him being ploughed over by two kids, possibly 8 years old. Naruto thought they had misaimed and landed on him, but instead, found two identical grinning blue eyes and faces leering down at him. His breath caught in his chest (or rather, he couldn't breathe from the weight).

He would know those grins anywhere, for years he had looked at it in the mirror. The boy, -_Fubuki, probably_- has his mothers soft light brown hair but his fathers narrowed blue eyes, while the girl, _-likely Karai- _had his golden locks and expressive sapphire eyes.

"Aniki, you're back!" the boy, he noted, seemed quieter than the girl, but than again… anyone was quieter than that shout.­

"Ah" Naruto decided now was a good time to sit up and let the two kids tumble off his chest and into his lap. They were small, maybe they were 6 instead? But then again… he had been small for his age before he reached his teens.

"Aniki, Aniki, take us out for Ramen, pwwwaeaaaaaaaassse?" Naruto twitched. _–she's going to be a heartbreaker when she grows up….-_

"Hmmm.. dunno, did Kaa-san say you could have some?" Karai tried to look innocent, while Fubuki seemed to have the 'masking ones emotions' down to an art, perhaps he could give the Uchiha a run for their money. Their names suited them, he realized. Now how did parents manage to do that?

"Hahaha... nice try, c'mon, Kaa-san probably has a treat for you anyways." He got up, taking the twins hands in each of his and walking off. He nodded to the other parents still lingering (he gave a wink to Inuzuka Tsume, who apparently had more children now that her husband was still alive) and a devious smile to the Elder Nara Shikamaru who looked horrified at the fact his daughter was… hyperactive. It appeared it was her first day.

"Aniki, tou-san said you might not remember us, So I'm Karai, and he's Fubuki."

"Hrrrrm….? Yeah, I figured as much, bakaaaaa." He grinned as he puffed out her cheeks.

"I am NOT a BAKA! Baka!"

"Then what are you, nee-chan?"

"I am_ THE_ GREATEST! Obviously..." the spiky blond haired girl gave them a look which plainly said they were idiots for not knowing. Naruto merely raised an eyebrow and looked down at fubuki, he mouthed one word: 'prima-donnas' which caused his little brother to burst into a fit of giggles.

-----

A little brother and a little sister; Naruto felt his heart skip a beat as he thought this on the steps of his new house (which he had to, shyly ask Fubuki directions to.) he stared at his hands for a moment, quite unbelieving.

"Something catch your attention, kiddo?" Someone sat beside him, Naruto blinked.

"I'm a brother." Arashi snorted and peaked over to his eldest son, smiling.

"Ah, yeah… I do believe that was established already…."

"I'm a big brother…." Arashi raised an eyebrow at Naruto. His son was wearing his usual shinobi gear, but what caught him off guard, were the quiet tears leaking from the corners of his eyes. Yondaime wrapped his arms around Naruto's shoulders and with his other hand, whipped away the tears.

"What's wrong, Musuko?" he asked quietly, frowning.

"Nothing's wrong, tou-san." The older blond blinked.

"Huh?"

"I finally have the family I wanted…Ne… Tou-san, how do I be a good brother? How old are Kari-chan and Fubi-chan? What are their likes dislikes? How should I act-?"

"Whoa! One question at a time!... um… right, Karai and Fubuki are… um…"

"You don't know their age…" Naruto deadpanned him. Arashi hastily waved his hands.

"No no no, I do! It... just took me a moment…… anyways, their 9 years old, same age as the youngest Uchiha right now-"

"Who's that?" Naruto asked, genuinely interested.

"Uchiha Otsuri, I believe he's the younger brother of Itachi and Sasuke."

"Aaah…" Naruto could just imagine Sasuke chasseing some bratty kid down the streets. No... wait… that wasn't his imagination! Naruto blinked. Arashi blinked, before resuming speaking.

"Right…. Uuh. Both like Ramen, both hate Dango, Karai prefers the colors brown, blue and red, whereas Fubuki likes greys, blacks and oranges… uuuum… they both share a room, uh… let's see… Karai hates anything extremely girlie, Fubuki still sleeps with his teddy bear (we made it look like Kakashi) Karai excels at ninjutsu, but Fubuki is better at Taijutsu, and their genjutsu is about equal…"

"Which is, lemme guess, non-existent, right?" Naruto snickered.

"Bingo! Aaand… last question, just be yourself, that's the best way to be a brother." Naruto smiled and yawned.

"Thanks tou-san…" he made up to leave when Arashi stopped him.

"Wait Naruto, we need to have a talk."

"Huh?"

"_THE_ talk…"

"WHAT! Wait! No! Um…"

"Oh! You know already then?... the birds and bees, and the birds and the birds and the bees and the bees and the birds and the objects and-"

"NO! Stop it! STOP IT! OW! My virgin ears! MY VIRGIN EARS! THEY'RE BLEEEDING!" Naruto ran into the house holding his ears as he blindly (thought failing) made his way to his room and 'disappear' for a few hours.

Out from the shadows as Arashi stood up and stretched, appeared a great hulking figure, actually… it was two figures.

"Pay up, Arashi." Yondaime chuckled and gladly handed over the wad of cash to Jiraiya and Kakashi, who had incidentally won their little 'bet.'

Meanwhile…

­_-why me why me why me why me! Eeeewww….. Nasty images… …. Birds and OBJECTS! WTF! I sincerely hope he isn't going to... no… he wouldn't!-_

"Tou-san! You are so not setting me up with anyone!"

'**Pfft, humans and their 'courting rules' all we do to claim our mate is to piss-'**

"I DID NOT NEED TO KNOW!... what the… what the hell is this!"

twitch

-----

"Hey… Kakashi… Arashi" the cycloptic jounin and the blond hokage looked at the sannin with veiled interest, a slight blush adorning both of them from the orange covered book in their hands, fresh from the printer.

"hrrmmmm?"

"Wanna make a bet on how long it takes for Naruto to find the… _materials _we left for him?"

-----

_-I am so going to kill them…-_

Twitchtwitch.

-----

**End of Series**

-----

**gaminin - ** gami means like.. superior, so their given an honorary title for it… that and they rock :p

**Karai - **means 'cyclonic-thunder storm'

**Fubuki - **means 'Snow storm'

**Otsuri -** means money, or balance


End file.
